Disappearing Ink on Irradiated Mail

[BobKamman]

This is from a report on the American Bar Association Tax Section’s Fall Meeting in Dallas:

“Judge Carluzzo also addressed mail irradiation, which was recently a topic of discussion on the ABA’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic listserv and in the news. The judge explained that irradiation of mail to the Court is not within the Tax Court’s control – it is conducted by the U.S. Postal Service. Some types of ink do disappear in the process. Kelly Phillips Erb wrote about the issue, and her search for a pen whose ink would not be affected, [link to paid website]. There does not seem to be an easy way to tell if your ink will disappear. This provides another reason to use DAWSON [electronic filing] and pay.gov whenever possible [for Tax Court filings].”

Irradiation apparently is done on mail to all federal agencies in Washington, D.C., not just the Tax Court. And it’s done in New Jersey, of course. Here is another story about it:

https://abc7chicago.com/irs-tax-irradiated-post-office-usps/12302793/

I thought IRS also screened large envelopes sent to Service Centers. Is this irradiation? Maybe they do it for a shorter time, so the ink is less likely to disappear.

[IRonMaN]

Maybe they should consider using irradiation on members of Congress.  Maybe that will make a large portion of them disappear.